The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said in
an e-mailed statement that it sued Visa in federal court,
claiming the company prevented the expansion of so-called
dynamic currency conversion services. A copy of the claim wasn’t
immediately available from the court.

Dynamic currency conversion services give customers the
choice of completing a transaction in their home currency or in
the local currency of the retail store or bank cash machine. A
cardholder who chooses DCC receives a locked-in exchange rate
that’s disclosed at the time of the transaction, the ACCC said.

“The ACCC is concerned that Visa sought to stop the growth
of competing dynamic currency conversion services,” ACCC
Chairman Rod Sims said in the statement. Visa earned less
revenue when a cardholder selected DCC, the regulator said.

Visa strongly rejects allegations that its rules on DCC
services infringe Australia’s competition laws, spokeswoman Zoe
Hibbert said in a statement. The company will vigorously defend
against the claims, according to the statement.

Visa has banned the use of DCC on transactions at cash
machines in Australia since at least October 2007, the ACCC
said. The company also engaged in exclusive deals, supplying
access to its payment network to Australian banks and retailers
on the condition they didn’t use DCC, the regulator said.

A hearing in the case is scheduled in Sydney for March 14,
according to the statement.